Carleton's crash test dummy helping police understand cyclist-car collisions

Carleton University and the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) are partnering up to better understand the impacts of collisions between cyclists and vehicles.

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On Wednesday, students and the OPS Collision Investigation Unit will conduct a rear-end collision test between a car and a crash test dummy along a track that will identify the events that occur during and after a fatal collision between a cyclist and a vehicle.

The test, originally scheduled for April 4, was rescheduled because of inclement weather. The test will now go forward on April 10.

Students have designed a crash dummy that is able to stay on a bicycle, before being hit by a self-driving vehicle from behind. The dummy will be launched at approximately 20 km/h.

The test will be performed by 22 fourth-year engineering students on Carleton's crash dummy team (CUCD), an undergraduate capstone project made up of students from the Biomedical and Mechanical, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering programs.

Andrew Speirs, the lead supervisor on the project and an engineering professor at Carleton University told CTV Morning Live the test will help OPS better understand the circumstances and causes of fatal cyclist crashes.

"They came to us with this question 10 years ago – does the speed of the cyclist matter? And that's the question we're trying to help them answer," Speirs said.

"It’s a training opportunity for them, but it's also a chance to compare that with what they actually observe because when they actually arrive at a real accident, they don't know right away what happened."

This is the first time the students will have a chance to perform the test since the COVID-19 pandemic. It's also the first year the dummy will be entirely 3D printed.

"It gives the test some advantages compared to previous years. We can create a lot of shapes which are more challenging to make with traditional manufacturing methods," Speirs said.

Speirs says the biggest challenge is keeping the dummy upright on the bike before the car is able to hit it. The engineering department is hoping to test other crash angles, such as T-bone and head-on crashes in the future.

Many advocates and community groups have expressed concern in recent years over collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists in the city of Ottawa.

According to most recent data by the city, there were 26 fatal collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists between 2017 and 2020.

Four of the fatalities represented collisions involving cyclists, which represents about 5 per cent of the total number of fatal crashes.

In 2023, the Ottawa Police Service reported 12 fatal crashes in the city of Ottawa involving pedestrians. There were also two fatalities in the city of Gatineau.

There were no fatal collisions of cyclists reported, but CTVNewsOttawa.ca reported on two who suffered serious or life-threatening injuries after a collision with a vehicle.